On May 14, a relatively small handful of Margate voters will go to the polls. This group of residents will decide who gets to whack up taxpayer cash for the next 4 years. That’s mucho dinero.
Winners of the MAY 14 election will determine the future of Margate. All while spending your money.
Thought the past 4 years were frustrating? It could get worse. Unless the challenger, candidate Calvin Tesler, does the unexpected.
Voter Feedback: All candidates & key officials should publicly disclose any holdings connected to Margate.
It’s not many that vote in Margate. Full-time residency is on a slow and steady decline. The upside? A dream for political incumbents. Less people to pander to.
Along the Jersey shore, each election cycle features a smaller voter base. That’s due to a declining, full-time population. People cashing out for those who want to build vacation homes with higher tax assessments. Couple that with growing tax ratables, and you know many special beaks are gonna get wet.
Let that sink in. Those in charge, only need to win the support of a shrinking number of voters. In essence, they can ignore 75% of the Margate taxpayers. That would be the 2nd homeowners, the financial fuel that runs Margate.
Hand over hard-earned money to a stock broker and NOT demand accountability? No power to fire that stock broker for poor performance? That’s what it’s like for non-voting 2nd homeowners.
No say in how tax money is spent. Especially bad for those being told to shut up and sit down….or move away.
Margate Bullet Voting Could Help Calvin Tesler.
When voters check the box for only one person in a 4 person race, and leave the rest of the ballot blank….. that’s called “bullet voting”.
Could candidate Calvin Tesler pull an upset in Margate?
Bullet Voting: Allows the voter to focus on the one candidate they really want to win. Proponents of bullet voting say you should only vote for your first choice…. essentially throwing your second & third vote away.
If enough Margate neighbors do the same thing…and ‘bullet vote’…. watch out. By exercising your right to NOT cast 3 potential votes, and instead, just vote for one person, you would mathematically increase the chances for someone like Calvin Tesler to win one of those 3 Margate commission seats.
Some say Tesler & family comes closest to representing what Margate wants more of; young families. The recently married couple with a new toddler. They have much riding on the future of Margate. More than Becker, Amodeo & Blumberg?
If Calvin Tesler garners more votes than at least ONE of the other 3 candidates, that would be a commission seat win for Tesler.
The 3 incumbents are licking their chops as another 4 years of unobstructed power looms. Ready to continue their work: fundamentally changing Margate from a residential community, to a more transient tourist destination featuring water parks, aggressive development and McMansions anywhere they can squeeze one in. Mo mansions, mo money.
Who’s the weakest and most vulnerable? That’s a tough call. All 3 Margate Commissioners have heavy baggage from the past 4 years.
- Dune & beach sewer-pipe nightmare
- Water parks, porta-potties
- Questionable land deals on Amherst Ave.
- Two half-empty schools at $32,000+ cost per pupil for less than 350 students.
- Average of $30 mil in new ratables annually. Why no tax relief? Where’s that new money going?
- Reduced transparency. Nepotism.
- No public financials for $95k subsidy to Margate Business Association
- Hotel over-lay zone. Jamming thru a high-rise at the Greenhouse.
- Waiving of minimum business parking requirements.
- Who really owns Lucy the Elephant? The lease ends DEC 2019.
- Ongoing prescription drug scandal issues
- Not-so-mini golf course in the Margate business district.
- Margate risking it’s premium appeal as ‘residential’.
Blumberg disappointed supporters when he recently got in bed with Becker & Amodeo. Maury gave up his once popular, independent voice. Maury Blumberg is now one of The Three Amigos.
NOTE: The three Margate incumbents declined an invitation to ‘Meet The Candidates’ forum sponsored by The Margate Business Association and The Margate Homeowners Association.
Margate Reader Feedback >
Between the proposed Amherst water park with porta-potties and the raised office or whatever that is sticking out like a sore thumb on the newly built marina (Barbary Coast) on Amherst, I have no idea what the leaders of Margate are thinking or doing. Are they even walking down to Amherst to see what’s going on?
When a much smaller water park was opened in Sea Isle City, local residents have been furious about added noise and traffic. The beautiful landscape and class of the Margate marina district is quickly being destroyed.
Forget about trying to park your car and finding peace and quiet watching a beautiful sunset. It’s all about to end. Real Estate values are sure to take a hit. Nice job commissioners.
If you don’t get out and vote, nothing will change. Complacency will get you another four years of the 3Ak’s. Good luck Margate.
Agreed! They exemplify small town politics to the maximum extent. Tesler will have my vote
If I start from the left and go ENY MEENY MINEY MO. Then back to the middle .Mo has got to go.
81 and appears to be in failing health and cognitive skills. Rumor is he either suffered a stroke or haert attack.
Voters… do the right thing for Margate! Learn of the ridiculous and harmful antics that have been going on for 4 years!
WE need a new person with better ideas and sunshine who won’t spend our money like it’s their own wallet. Please full-time residents go out and vote!
Before this article, I planned to bullet vote for Calvin Tesler. My vote will not ring out against anyone in particular among the three incumbents. It will be a vote to better ensure that a new voice is heard and counted in the decision making process as to what’s best for Margate.
Do residents/homeowners have the power to hire an attorney to, at the least, audit Margate books and see where money is going? There must be some way to force accountability.
Yes. The Ocean City taxpayers retain their own attorney. https://fairnessintaxes.com/
Very upset that the incumbents wouldn’t attend the Meet the Candidates forum. Their absence decided my vote.
Change is hard. And it’s time for change. Voters, make the change. Let your voice be heard at the voting booth.
All full time residents should bullet vote. We need new untainted blood.
It is time for a radical change. Three amigos are not responsive to the electorate. Each has nepotism with relatives working in the schools. One parks his truck full time on a residential street against Margate ordinances. Two will be re-elected, but we need a fresh voice who will be open to citizens and will not hide the truth. BULLET VOTE is the right way to vote this year.
Write in chuck cavanaugh
Dear Full-time Residents,
BULLET VOTE is the way to go!!!!
Those of us who suffer through “taxation without representation” are counting on YOU!!!
Do you own property in Margate? Do you hope to own property in Margate? Please consider these facts if you do. Also, please do not believe you are visiting a different site, despite the factual nature of what follows:
1) Margate’s tax-rate is flat for 2019
2) Margate has over $8 million in reserves with significant infrastructure projects budgeted and planned.
3) Margate’s ratable base has trended higher while property taxes have not increased on a commensurate path. In other words, if you have owned a house in Margate, say, over the last 10 years, congratulations. Your house or commercial property has likely appreciated at a pace that more than justifies the small increase in taxes over that time. Here’s a fact: Taxes will go higher over time, plain and simply. Things cost more over time. BUT, you are fortunate to live in a community where property values also increase–at a leading rate–, and thus your balance sheet has benefited greatly due to, among other reasons, Margate’s tax rate remaining among the lowest of any full-service town in the County. Be thankful for this.
4) Transparency/Collusion/Back-Room Dealing–Calling all conspiracy theorists! You’re joking, right???
a) Part-time residents can reach our Commissioners 24/7
b) Accessibility of news and proposed ordinances is as good as it’s ever been–the town’s
website/newsletter/presence on social media is robust and getting better. All meetings are taped
and posted on website.
c) gossip is cheap–and potentially damaging to our City. Allegations of “commissioners whacking
up taxpayer dollars…” are not surprising in our current national political climate, but this is
Margate; this is our town. If you have proof of such, then bring it forward and I’d be the first to
condemn it and lead the chant to “lock them up.” BUT, it is more likely those who spread
rumors like this do it for their own personal agenda and all of us taxpayers suffer from the false
and damaging innuendo. Step up, come out of the shadows, and present your accusations with
related evidence….please do this as we would all benefit. I, however, expect your continued
cowardly silence.
Bottom line: Yes, there will always be things about which we, as taxpayers, will have a right to protest. But I strongly suggest you view the work of our current commissioners holistically, focusing most strongly on our low taxes and our enviable increasing ratable base. They run a clean good ship for the benefit of all of us. They’re not perfect, but they’ve done a very good job protecting our town while fostering an environment for investment and home-ownership–we benefit greatly from this as our properties have and will likely continue to increase in value, our streets are safe, our EMT response time is low, our infrastructure strong and our properties appreciating. Change for change’s sake is not a good thing.
(disclosure: Maury Blumberg is one of my oldest friends)
(disclosure#2 The fact that Maury Blumberg is one of my oldest friends is immaterial to the above comments)
AMEN
Well said Steve
What geniuses decided that it’s a good idea to give bike riders the right to the entire road on Monmouth and Winchester Avenues??? It’s a disaster waiting to happen come Spring/Summer.